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Willow Dahnke (she/her)'s avatar

That's a well put explanation of not knowing.

As a relatively newly discovered trans-woman-my egg cracked in 2023-I thought I might have to conform to some idiom of what a transgender person is supposed be/behave/look. I am 62 years old, so am processing puberty through an elder's brain. I don't feel I have to conform to anyone's ideals.

When I began HRT and mentally/emotionally experienced incredible changes, it occurred to me that I had always "felt" this way, I just didn't have the words to voice my experience.

What I never understood, and still don't after pretending to be one for many years, is how a man feels/thinks.

So, I believe you're correct in your observation. How can we "be" anything other than what we've always been.

All my relations,

Willow

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Hannah's avatar

After transitioning it became only more obvious to me how I don't understand men. Pre hatching I already had therapy sessions where I was like "it's like they have a secret language I don't understand".

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Willow Dahnke (she/her)'s avatar

Strangely enough I'm currently going through a phase where most men smell repellent to me

However, I also had a very nice guy who I sat at the bar having drinks with for 2 hours, ask if he could give me a hug when I left. It was truly touching how delicately he touched me. I felt human

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Hannah's avatar

It's very nice to no longer be treated like a bloke by them - even if that sometimes means they take us less seriously.

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Hannah's avatar

Honestly transition gave me that "girl feeling" and is more and more giving me a "woman feeling". It's like we start maturing into our gender when we allow ourselves the space. Maybe gender-wise we were like 6 year old girls being forced to act like a man - and now with 2nd puberty we can finally embrace all of life. But then I didn't have painful dysphoria, it was mostly dissociative and depressing for me - I was out of touch with the world and my body. And now I feel *something* and that's the contrast I can recognise.

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